ChoralNet: Tour bus games

Hello everyone,Thanks for the suggestions of games to do on the tour bus. Here theyare--have a good time!Kirin Nielsennielsenk(a)ripon.edu

My college drama club used to play charades. It was a blast. Some of those folks are now professional actors. I think they limited the charade assignments to play and movie titles -- you could do the same with song titles, maybe? I also remember when a particularly popular guy got up his friends decided to embarrass him -- they passed a note around saying "He's trying to do 'The Penal Colony.' Don't guess it." Ah, good clean fun.

I've also carried Jan Harald Brunvand's urban legend books along for people to read aloud. I happen to have a particular fascination for urban legends, but I think they can be good conversation starters.

With college choirs these days, I've found that people watch videos as a group on the bus. You could find videos with special choral relevance.

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I am a member of the university choir at millikin. we hvae a TON of fun stuff :-)

we do this thing called bus happiness, we have 2 people per day try and keep

everyone entertained. The first day, everyone rights down a funny story about themselves and then they draw names out and interview them. Also, we do choir angels, where we all choose another member of the choir to

do little things for throughout the tour and at the end give them one nicer gift. We had people have to get up and sing, or eat sausage, just goofy stuff. We are all young adults, and I think you might get a good laugh out of some of this stuff.We also did quotes of the day and loser and queen of the day, so if someone does something really goofy they get to where a really bizarre looking hat and vice versa :-)

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A favorite among my students is 'song wars.' The group forms two teams. Aleader gives a simple word, such as 'night' or 'sun.' The teams take turnssinging short phrases from songs which include that word, as many as theycan come up with. They don't want the other team to hear them planning andsteal their idea. The last team to come up with a song for a given word getsa point, then you go on to a new word.

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Bus bingo--make some "bingo" cards with statements like "originally fromTexas," "has two sisters," etc. Then have people switch seats every 10minutes on the first leg of the trip. Each person can only sign one spacein another person's card.

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We used to play a few games..some that I won't suggest!! But....we wouldhave everyone write down something that no one would know about themselvesand not say who wrote it: eg. I won 1st place in a pagent. Everyone wouldhave to guess who did that. It was fun and you got to know people indifferent ways.

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Hand out a sheet of rounds and sing! That works for us.

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I have a bunch of musical word puzzles -- printed on regular paper, andyou'd have to provide a pencil..... -- that we've used at large communitychorus luncheons. It always gets people at tables talking together -- andlaughing. On a bus people sitting together could work on the same sheet --or hand out separate sheets. Then (much later) you'd call out the answerson the driver's microphone.

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Try to find a bus without a VCR or sound system, or tell the bus driverin advance not to bring any videocassettes or cd's. Given the choice,the students will prefer those activities.

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Try that old stand-by: Who Am I? (You know the one, someone is "it" andthinks of a person, real or fictional, and others try to guess who they arewith questions that can only be answered yes or no. A yes answer entitlesyou to another question, a no means the next person tries until someoneguesses the correct character. Then they get to be it.)

It works for adults as well as youth, because it gives others a sense of howsomeone's mind works.

And of course, there's always singing - a mini rehearsal, or just good oldcamp songs. If it's a choir tour, encouraging them to sing shouldn't be anissue.

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You could try a form of "Choir TRivia Bingo." Make up cards like bingo andeach square would have a fact about one person, such as 'Who used to live inCalifornia?' or 'Which alto works for IBM?' Have some small prize for anyonewho gets a "bingo," such as dollar store pens or statuettes. This game willget conversations started and individuals won't have to approach other withthe goal of "making small-talk."

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When I was in college, we had a daily "radio show" that would help us pass the time. We were allowed to use the bus PA system as our microphone. Some of the items can be serious (weather reports, headlines from the newspaper), but most of our features were silly. Off-the-wall cooking shows, top ten lists, gossip shows, sing-alongs (rounds work especially well), goofy awards, etc. You need a few folks who are over-the-top comedians to get things going, but by the end of our tours almost everyone got involved somehow. We would spend an hour or so preparing our scripts and then we would start the show once on the open road.Good luck. Touring can be great fun.

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this is not a game, but I have appreciated the times on bus tours when everyone on one side of the aisle was required to move back one seat, and everyone on the other side of the aisle had to move forward one seat each time the group got on the bus after being down on the ground for whatever reason. The rotation gives everybody a chance to see some new faces, talk to someone different, and sit in the "best seats" from time to time. The only exceptions made were for people who had disabilities that required them to be in a particular place. There have also been trips when each side of the bus took turns getting up into the center aisle first to disembark, preventing a lot of bumping into each other and jostling about. These amenities can be introduced in a pleasant, fun way, just as you would do with children, and I have found that adults enjoy and appreciate them.

leota@megalink.net on April 12, 2007 10:00pm

A senior group from my church are planning a bus trip to the Amish country in Pa. the end of this month, we are from Me so it will be a long ride. Could you email me your musical word puzzels and Rounds to sing on a sheet. If there is a charge for this then I do not want them. Trying to think of ways to entertain the group on the bus.

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LJRoberts@bak.rr.com on May 31, 2007 10:00pm

I would love to have copies of your musical word puzzles. they make great bonus activites for the classroom choir, but right now I'm thinking they would be great for church choir social to get the members mingling.

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c.coshow@sbcglobal.net on April 22, 2008 10:00pm

I am interested in a musical word puzzle, bingo or another game with music or songs that can be played on a 2 hr bus trip with seniors. This is a trip that funded solely on fundraising and donations so there is not much money for purchasing materials. Anything that can be e-mailed to me that would be free of charge to our group would be great.

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salbak@comcast.net on July 9, 2008 10:00pm

Our Church is planning a trip to Cleveland, Oh from Pittsburgh, and I would appreciate the words to old standard songs that seniors would remember and enjoy singing. Also, if you have any puzzles for them to do so that we can award little prizes, that would also be welcome. Thank you so much in advance.

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lauriek@intercitystatebank.com on February 23, 2009 10:00pm

I am also interested in musical word puzzles that seniors can play on a 3 hour bus ride. Anything you have would be welcome. We are taking a trip to see Guys and Dolls at the Armory Dinner Theater in Janesville, WI. Anything related to musicals would be appreciated.